Remote I-9 Verification: Who Can Use It and How
Remote I-9 checks are open only to E-Verify employers in good standing. The live video rules, the box you must check, and what missing it costs.
During the period when everybody suddenly hired remotely, many small businesses settled on the same solution for the I-9: the new hire emails photos of their passport, somebody looks at them, the form gets filled in. It was practical and widespread. But the Homeland Security COVID-19 flexibilities behind it only postponed the in-person check, and they ended July 31, 2023.
There is now a legitimate remote route, and it is narrower than most people assume. It is open only to employers enrolled in E-Verify (the federal online system that checks a new hire’s work authorization), it requires a live video interaction rather than an exchange of files, and it hangs on a single checkbox that otherwise careful employers leave blank.
This guide covers who is eligible, the four conditions that all have to hold together, how the examination actually runs, the workarounds that satisfy nothing, and the authorized representative route for employers who cannot use the procedure at all.
I build the people and records tooling for businesses without an HR department at FirstHR. This is general information rather than legal advice, and immigration compliance penalties are large enough to justify professional input.
What the Procedure Is
The Department of Homeland Security authorized an alternative to physical document examination under a final rule effective August 1, 2023, permitting eligible employers to examine identity and work authorization documents through a live video interaction.
It arrived through formal rulemaking rather than as temporary relief, which is why it survived the end of the pandemic-era flexibilities that preceded it. The rule limits the procedure to qualified employers, meaning those enrolled and participating in good standing in E-Verify (Department of Homeland Security final rule, July 25, 2023).
What it does not do is change the deadlines, the list of acceptable documents, or the rule that the employee chooses which documents to present. It changes the method of looking at them, and that method brings two duties of its own: marking a checkbox on the form and keeping copies of the documents.
Who Can Use It
Only employers who participate in E-Verify in good standing may examine documents remotely under the alternative procedure. Eligibility is binary and it is the first thing to establish, because everything else is irrelevant without it.
E-Verify enrollment has to be active at the hiring site where the employee will work (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). Good standing means you use E-Verify to confirm each new hire there and follow the program's other requirements.
An employer that enrolls later cannot retroactively validate examinations conducted before enrollment, and an employer whose participation has lapsed is in the same position as one that never enrolled.
This is a genuine constraint for small businesses, because E-Verify enrollment brings its own obligations: consistent verification of every new hire, posting requirements, and the mismatch process for any hire E-Verify cannot immediately confirm (E-Verify User Manual, section 1.5). Enrolling purely to unlock remote I-9 examination is a real decision with real ongoing consequences rather than a formality.
The Four Conditions
Homeland Security sets out four steps: examine copies of both sides of the documents, hold a live video interaction with the person presenting them, indicate on the form that an alternative procedure was used, and retain a clear and legible copy (Handbook for Employers M-274, section 4.5).
The four conditions below arrange those steps slightly differently: they add the E-Verify requirement and count receiving and retaining the copies as one.
The third condition catches employers who know the retention rules for ordinary I-9s. Keeping copies of documents is generally optional when you examine them physically, and many employers deliberately do not, precisely to avoid holding sensitive documents.
The alternative procedure removes that option. Federal regulation says an employer may, but is not required to, copy a document presented for verification (8 CFR 274a.2), and under the alternative procedure those copies are part of the process and have to be kept for the full retention period.
For E-Verify employers, the choice was already narrower than that regulation suggests. They must keep a copy of a U.S. passport, passport card, Permanent Resident Card, or Employment Authorization Document whenever a new hire presents one (Handbook for Employers M-274, section 4.1), and the alternative procedure extends that duty to every document, front and back.
How It Runs
The examination follows a fixed sequence in which the same documents travel twice: as copies sent ahead, then as originals shown on camera. The employee completes Section 1 of the form, and you complete Section 2, the part where you review their documents.
People find the double transmission redundant, but it is the point of the design. The examiner compares a document they were sent against one held up on camera, which makes the exercise a verification rather than a viewing.
Skipping the advance copies and simply looking at the camera is not a shortcut. It is a different and non-compliant process.
The Box That Costs Money
An I-9 that never indicates the alternative procedure was used is a paperwork defect, and paperwork defects are priced per individual rather than per audit. The range runs from $288 to $2,861 for each individual the violation involves (8 CFR 274a.10).
The practical response is an audit rather than a policy. Pull every I-9 completed remotely since you began using the procedure, check the alternative procedure box, and check that E-Verify enrollment was active on each of those dates. Errors found before an inspection are in a completely different position from errors found during one.
Run it as a list rather than from memory. One row per remote examination, and the audit is finished when there is no empty cell left in it.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Employee | First day of work | Section 2 completed on | Live video examination held on | Copies received before the call | Where the copies are stored now | E-Verify active on that date | Alternative procedure box checked | Defect found | What was done about it, and when |
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The enrollment question carries the heavier exposure. An employer who used the video process while not enrolled has a defect on every one of those forms, and the fact that the examination itself was conducted carefully does not help. The underlying obligation and the list of acceptable documents are set out on I-9 Central, the USCIS hub for Form I-9 guidance.
What Does Not Count
Five reasonable-looking approaches, all of which fail, and all of which are in active use somewhere.
The fourth, remote examination without E-Verify enrollment, is the one worth checking today. It catches the business that read that remote verification was now permitted and adopted the video process without noticing the E-Verify precondition. The forward path is fixable and the historical one is not, which is exactly why finding the problem early matters.
The Authorized Representative Route
Employers who cannot use the alternative procedure still have a way to onboard a remote hire, and it predates all of this.
You may designate an authorized representative to complete Section 2 on your behalf by physically examining the documents in the employee's presence. There is no requirement that the representative be a notary, an attorney, or an agent of any kind; it can be anybody the employer designates except the new hire themselves.
Kelly KapoorCustomer ServiceUp to Date
Darryl PhilbinWarehouseNeeds Attention
Ryan HowardSalesUp to DateMany employers use a notary because notaries are easy to find and used to identity documents. The critical point is liability. Homeland Security puts it directly: an employer may designate, hire, or contract with any person to complete Section 2 on its behalf, and remains liable for any violations that person commits (Handbook for Employers M-274, section 2.0).
Somebody signing a form they do not understand therefore creates your problem rather than theirs. Sending clear instructions with the blank form, and reviewing the completed one when it comes back, is the whole of the risk management here.
The package you send should hold two things: the blank form, and written instructions telling the person exactly what to do with it and what never to do. The designation and instruction sheet in the guide to I-9 documentation is written to travel with the form and covers the errors representatives actually make.
One more instruction belongs on that sheet: leave the alternative procedure box unchecked. That box is where this route and the alternative procedure should never be confused on paper.
The representative examined the originals in person, while that box says the alternative procedure was used. A check mark there turns a valid in-person examination into a false statement about how it was conducted.
Applying It Consistently
You may offer the alternative procedure to everyone hired at an E-Verify site, or to remote hires only while examining on-site and hybrid employees' documents in person. What you may not do is decide person by person. The alternative procedure sits inside the same anti-discrimination framework as everything else in the I-9 process, which constrains how you choose who gets it.
| Approach | Acceptable? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Remote hires use the alternative procedure, on-site hires do not | Yes | A reasonable, consistent, non-individual distinction |
| Everybody uses the alternative procedure | Yes | Uniform application, provided you are eligible |
| Deciding per person based on their documents | No | Ties the method to document type, which is a prohibited practice |
| Deciding per person based on name or accent | No | Discrimination on national origin or citizenship status |
| Requiring specific documents for a remote examination | No | The employee always chooses which acceptable documents to present |
| Asking for extra documents because the check was remote | No | Over-documentation is prohibited regardless of the examination method |
The last two rows are the ones employers reach for instinctively, because examining a document on camera feels less certain than holding it. The response to that discomfort is a better call, not a longer document list.
The employee's right to choose is unchanged by the method. Homeland Security instructs employers to let the employee choose which documentation to present, and states plainly that you cannot specify which documentation an employee will present from the Lists of Acceptable Documents (Handbook for Employers M-274, section 4.0).
Where Small Employers Get This Wrong
Six patterns, and the first two are the ones Immigration and Customs Enforcement lists as substantive violations.
First comes using the video process without E-Verify enrollment. It is the failure that looks most like compliance from the outside, and it leaves a defect on every affected form.
Second is not checking the box. It is one field, easy to overlook, and the mistake is multiplied by however many remote hires you have onboarded.
Third, some employers still treat emailed photos as verification. It is the legacy habit from the period when nothing else was practical.
Fourth is not retaining the copies. They are generally optional for physical examination and mandatory here, which makes the rule easy to miss precisely because it differs from the one you already knew.
Fifth is assuming the deadline moved. It did not: Section 2 is still due three business days from the first day of work, so the video call needs scheduling before the start date rather than after it.
Last is asking for additional documents because the check felt less certain. It is over-documentation, it is prohibited, and it converts a paperwork question into a discrimination one alongside the rest of your anti-discrimination obligations.
Nick Anisimov, FirstHR founder
Frequently Asked Questions
What is remote I-9 verification?
Remote I-9 verification is the optional alternative to checking a new hire’s original documents in person. Under a Department of Homeland Security final rule that took effect on August 1, 2023, an employer can review the person’s identity and work authorization documents during a live video call instead. Nothing else about the I-9 moves: the deadlines, the list of acceptable documents, and the duty to complete the form all stay as they were. Two things are added: a checkbox on the form that records the method and a requirement to keep copies. Only employers enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing may use it.
Can any employer verify I-9 documents remotely?
No. Remote examination is reserved for employers that are enrolled in E-Verify and in good standing, and the enrollment has to cover the hiring site where the new hire will work. A business outside the program cannot use the video procedure however remote the job is, and a flawless call does not change that. Its options are to examine the documents itself with the employee physically present, or to have an authorized representative do it on its behalf. Enrolling later does not repair video examinations that took place before the enrollment, and a lapsed enrollment leaves an employer in the same position as one that never joined.
Does an emailed photo of a passport count?
No. Photos sent by email are only one step of the alternative procedure, and on their own they verify nothing. The procedure requires a live, two-way video call in which the new hire holds up the original documents while you compare them with the copies you received beforehand. A document uploaded to a portal or a video the employee records and sends cannot respond when you ask them to turn a card over or hold it closer, so neither qualifies. Treating any of these as verification leaves the I-9 with no valid examination behind it, which makes this the most common way employers get the procedure wrong.
What box do you have to check on the I-9?
The Form I-9 has a checkbox for the alternative procedure in the Additional Information field of Section 2. Marking it records on the form that you examined the documents over video, and Homeland Security counts it among the four required steps. A form with that box empty does not show a compliant examination, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement classifies the omission as a substantive violation. That means it falls outside the correction period of at least ten business days that technical and procedural errors get during an inspection. Paperwork violations carry penalties of $288 to $2,861 for each individual involved.
Do you have to keep copies of the documents?
Yes, when using the alternative procedure. Copying is generally optional when you examine documents in person, although an E-Verify employer already has to copy a Permanent Resident Card, Employment Authorization Document, U.S. passport, or passport card if the employee chooses to present one. The alternative procedure widens that duty to everything: you must keep a clear and legible copy of both sides of every document presented. Hold the copies as long as the I-9 itself, meaning three years from the date of hire or one year after employment ends, whichever date comes later. Where you keep copies, keep them consistently for all employees rather than for some and not others.
Does remote verification change the three-day deadline?
No. The clock is the same as for an in-person check. Section 2 is due within three business days of the employee’s first day of work, and the employee still completes their own section by that first day. Only the way you look at the documents changes, not the timetable. The three days are counted from the first day of work, not from the call, so book the video call before the start date. A new hire in a different time zone can use up the window faster than you expect.
What is an authorized representative and how is it different?
An authorized representative is a person you choose, other than the new hire, to complete Section 2 for you. They examine the original documents with the employee physically in front of them. This option has existed for years and has nothing to do with E-Verify, so it is the fallback for employers that cannot use the video procedure. Responsibility stays with you: Homeland Security states that an employer is liable for any violations its representative commits on its behalf. Pick someone who understands the form, since careful understanding matters more than being geographically close.
Can you offer remote verification to some employees and not others?
Yes, as long as the distinction is reasonable and applied the same way to everyone it covers. A typical version is offering video examination to fully remote hires while you check documents in person for people who work at your site. The line cannot be drawn person by person. Deciding for one individual on any basis connected to their citizenship status or national origin, including how they look, how they sound, or which documents you expect them to show, is discrimination. It is treated the same way as using E-Verify selectively.
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